Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Hello,

I finally got myself a can of Sea Foam. This stuff is hard to get in Canada. I got it at Nappa Auto Parts........$13.00 a can. Okay I have a few questions. How much do you add to the gas can? Is this a good replacement for gas stabilizer or can you use booth at the same time? And what about the gas in the snowblower? Should I add some in the tank if so how much? or just wait till I top it off with mix in the gas can?

Edward

edchow wrote:
I buy mine at NAPA and the last cans I bought were purchased in November for $10.88 CDN per can, taxes not included.  Seafoam is also used as a fuel stabilizer and is better than Stabil.  If your machine is old, I'd add about three oz. to a tank of fuel and run that through the engine.  If the engine runs well afterward, that should be sufficient for the season.  Repeat seasonally.  Remember that Seafoam is designed to clean varnish from the carburetor and carbon from the engine.  It will smooth out rough running engines if it's just a matter of getting varnish out of the carbs.  It will not remove debris from the fuel system.  So, if you have problems that Seafoam cannot remedy, you will need to pull your float bowl to inspect for debris and water.  If you see contaminants, a good carb cleaning will be required.  By the way, Seafoam is not just for small engines.  If your auto engine is running rough, run a can of it in half a tank of fuel. 

I have been using a Seafoam and Stabil "cocktail" in both 2 stroke and 4 stroke engines for years. I use them at the suggested rates on the containers. Never an issue with carb varnish or any other carb related problems.

On occasion when a friend asks for some assistance with a balky carb I always bring along Seafoam in the spray can. Very often you will hear a guy complain that an engine will run on choke but dies when taken off. Most of the time a shot of Seafoam Spray in the intake will cure the problem without having to tear down the carb. 

Marc 

Sounds like Seafoam is designed for a different purpose from Stabil. Stabil is a fuel stabilizer, in helps gas stay "fresh" longer. It isn't a fuel system cleaner. From what has been posted Seafoam sounds like a cleaning agent that is used to clean deposits out of the fuel system that were caused by "old" gasoline.

Given that why, would you use Seafoam on a regular basis unless you constantly use old gas? I can understand an "end of season" application or an "it sounds like a dirty carburetor, what have you been putting into it?" application. The same applies to Stabil, why put it into fresh gas that will be used up within a week?

Hi Nibbler-

I have several pieces of equiptment that I don't use on a regular basis such as my Hedge clippers, my old Snapper Lawn Mower that has the Thatcherizer attachment ( use once in the fall and once in the spring) my leaf vac grinder (three or four times a year)  two snow blowers(one 4 stroke , one two stroke) and a power washer (two or three times a year). In addition I have a mower,string trimmer and back pack blower that are used  weekly during the season.

I use the same two fuel cans for all the ope (one with 2 stroke oil and one without)- Just a matter of convenience to put the additives in both cans and be done with it. The residual effect is not having any carb issues at all. Also the modern gas in the North East turns to garbage after a month so the additives don't hurt in that regard either.

Marc 

nibbler wrote:

nbbler:

The Seafoam can reads as follows:

MOTOR TREATMENT

Injector cleaner, carburetor cleaner, carbon cleaner, fuel stabilizer, frees lifters and rings, de icer/anti gel, upper cylinder lube, dries oils and fuels.

Helps pass emissions tests, cures hesitation, pings and rough idle.   Shoot!  Why can't they make something like this for people?  My wife would be out of bed by now! 

It's been around since 1942.  Has to have some redeeming value to stay on the market that long. 

I have a lot of two stroke engines and this is where Seafoam excels.  I have an Echo 2 cycle lawn mower that is twenty years old.  I ran it for 17 years without using any fuel additives and other than cleaning the air filter  regularly, draining the carb at the end of the season and cleaning the carburetor float bowl once, it has seen no maintenance.   It's a Suzuki engine and stone axe reliable so, I had no reason to think it needed attention.  Last year I put a couple oz. of Seafoam into the fuel tank with about a quart of gas and started trimming around the house.  After about ten minutes, the engine speed suddenly increased by 300 to 400 rpm.  That's significant because the engine is set to run at 3000 rpm full throttle.  I can only suspect that the carb had build up in it and the Seafoam cleaned it out.  People can saw what they want.  This stuff works for me.    Here's a link for those interested:  http://www.seafoamsales.com/

Sounds interesting, I normally use Pri-G at the end of season shutdown and then drain the tank and run it dry. I'll try Seafoam at the start of season.

I generally run two tanks of gas, one straight and one with 50:1 oil for the two strokes. Any unit that won't get used for a while gets emptied and/or a Pri-G treatment. I also dump the "old" gas into the car every three to four weeks.

I use PRI-G all year round for my lawn mower, leaf  blower and snow thrower.

 I even run it in my Dakota and Civic every 4th fill-up.  At 1 oz for 16 gal it goes a long way.

Where can you get the PRI-G for small engines. The regular PRI-G is so concentrated you need a microscopic ammount for one gallon. I would go from Stabil to PRI-G if it weren't such a pain to mix!

Marc

You can get graduated eye droppers or even graduated syringes for children's cough syrup. Either way they can measure in the range you need for a small jerry can of gas. Its almost exactly 2,000:1 so 1ml is good for 2L of gas, you folks in the US on on your own for this one, I keep getting mixed up since gallons are inherently funny .

Thanks Nibbler! I agree-Gallons are inherently funny------EXCEPT FOR THE PRICE! Thats no laughing matter.

Marc